Philadelphia Eagles 29, Houston Texans 17
Q. You said this was a business trip first and foremost. Not often do you get to see your family on a business trip. What was it like to perform like that in front of them?
JALEN HURTS: Yeah, I think any time I get to come back to the city of Houston, it's special. This is the first time I've ever played back home at the professional level, collegiate level. Never got the opportunity to do it at the collegiate level.
So coming back, playing in a place where I built a lot of memories, built a lot of memories with my mom, my dad, coming to watch ball in this same stadium.
Of all things, it's a great team win. There's rarity of me reflecting on things and not having any emotion towards it. But I'm proud that my family got to see that today. I'm proud my dad got to see that. I know that's special to him because my family knows the memories that we've had with the Houston Texans, just being around, being involved in the camps, Andre Johnson, him giving me his cleats as a kid. Those are memories that I value.
Truly to come home and get a win in this city is special.
Q. Did you give yourself a moment to reflect on it before or after the game?
JALEN HURTS: No, I really didn't. It hit me when I was riding in the city and I wasn't going home, I was going to the hotel. It's a special moment, a special experience. I wouldn't want to experience it with any other group of men.
Q. How do you stay away from being more amped up, stay the course?
JALEN HURTS: I really just focus on the things that I can control. You know what I mean? Nothing else really matters. I know I would have a lot of supporters here, which I value and I appreciate.
I just wanted to make them proud, make the city proud, city of Houston and city of Philly proud. Just controlling the things that I can.
Q. You spoke about the memories here. What do you think the moment from tonight will be?
JALEN HURTS: Being able to get a win. I think about this game, I just said it up there at the podium talking with the Thursday night crew, there's a lot to be grateful about. There's a lot to reflect on and look at, the things that we did well. There's also a lot of things that we can improve on.
I'm not going to make excuses about anything with the short week. We have a standard of play. We want to play to that at all times. It's a learning experience for us. It's a formative experience that will only build us up.
I truly think the only direction is to rise. Personally playing in the city of Houston, being the first time playing back home, a special moment for me personally. I think the job is still not done.
I talk about there never being an arrival, there only being a journey. That's something that I embrace, it's something that this football team embraces. The journey of what's ahead. The journey of daily deposits and daily improvement and daily efforts to be the best football team we can be. That's the only thing we want to do.
It's all about the standard, playing to that standard, then raising the standard.
Q. What does it mean to be 8-0 for the first time in franchise history?
JALEN HURTS: I know it's special for the city of Philadelphia. I mean, I've been 8-0 before and lost a national championship. You know what I'm saying?
Just take it day by day. You know what I'm saying? Take it day by day. We haven't accomplished anything yet. It's a day-by-day thing of us controlling the things we can, playing to our standard, trying to grow every day. I think that's truly what it's about.
Q. (No microphone.)
JALEN HURTS: I respect his opinion. I work to improve every off-season. I work to improve every off-season. The work shows in due time.
It's a great team effort for us to come out here and battle through these types of wins, CD making big-time plays on the back end, getting us momentum, a short field. You have Hargraves having a career day.
I've made improvement. While I put the work in, it's only a reflection of what we've done as a football team. Everybody has put the work in. I think for us to be where we are, that's showing, so...
There's still more work to be put in, more work to be done. I can only smile for so long, you know what I mean? I'm hungry for it. I'm going to keep going.
Q. What does it say about the team that you can play different styles?
JALEN HURTS: I feel like we have the ability to be able to play different types of ball, different types of ball in different situations in the game.
I made the reference to your favorite steakhouse or seafood spot, whatever it is, the high-end one. You have your fish of the day. You have the chef's choice, whatever it is. I feel like we can show up and run the ball effectively, throw the ball effectively, kind of do both.
Just kind of depends on what that (indiscernible) game is looking like. That's a testament to our players, how we prepare, and our coaches putting us in good positions. I feel like we definitely could have done some things to kind of create more advantage-able plays in terms of our execution and how we kind of responded to certain things.
Nonetheless as a team we responded to everything that was thrown to us one way or another. Always happy to leave with a win.
Q. Could you describe the improvement you're seeing in the passing game, the evolution of that aspect of your offense?
JALEN HURTS: Yeah, I think it's the work we put in in the off-season. We truly prepare for this. We prepare for it. I've never been one to mind myself of anyone else's expectations for me. It's about my standard and it's about what I desire to go out there and do on the field.
I feel like we set a precedent for what we want to accomplish as an offense. It's still yet to be there. It's still yet to be attained.
But it's the work we put in, the friendship we create, camaraderie. Going out there and truly playing for each other. Truly communicating to get on the same page on things. That takes a great diligence. I think that's a great thing about this offensive group and this football team.
Q. The Astros just won another World Series game. What do you think about the World Series?
JALEN HURTS: I don't know what to tell you. I really don't (smiling).
Y'all going to do this to me forever.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports